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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23527264">The Spark</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ta_Ma/pseuds/Ta_Ma'>Ta_Ma</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Law &amp; Order: SVU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cute, Fluff, M/M, Soulmates, cheesy as fuck</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 15:06:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,165</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23527264</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ta_Ma/pseuds/Ta_Ma</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>For Rafael the whole ‘feeling warmth in your chest when you heard their voice for the first time and actually producing a spark when the both of you touched each other for the first time’ was kind of enticing, but he didn't actually believe in it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>63</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>April 2020 Barisi Bingo</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Spark</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I had this mapped out and I finished it instead of working. I hope you like it. It's absolutely corny.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>For Rafael the whole ‘Soulmate’ concept was more a legend than a fact, he had been told the story, several times throughout his childhood, but he could not really believe that in a planet as big as the Earth, people would be able to find that one person that was meant for them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He might have believed some part of it when he was younger, certainly, the whole ‘feeling warmth in your chest when you heard their voice for the first time and actually producing a spark when the both of you touched each other for the first time’ was kind of enticing. But most of it could be explained as regular infatuation, and he had never seen the actual spark in real life. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had read about it and he had seen it on screen because his </span>
  <em>
    <span>abuelita</span>
  </em>
  <span> liked watching her telenovela with him, and how could Rafael deny her that? So he had seen several scenes where The Spark would reveal the bond between the two main characters, but he never believed it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It is not until Harvard that he gets to see it. He is walking back from the Library and plans on making a short stop at the cafeteria to get something to it when a blond girl walking a few steps before him drops something accidentally. Rafael just stares at what appears to be a notebook sliding on the ground a few feet beside her and before she gets there a slightly older woman bends down to pick it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She says something to the blond girl and she smiles, nods and extends her hand to reach for her notebook and then it happens. There is a flash of white light and then both of them are smiling like crazy and the older woman starts laughing. It is nothing like The Spark from the telenovelas, where everything would happen in slo-mo and the light would be more like a golden twinkle. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a couple of seconds Rafael wants to believe, he hopes that at some point he will meet his soulmate and have his Spark. But then his skepticism comes back and he ponders that if in the 23 years that he has been alive, he has just once witnessed an actual Spark and no one close to him has met their soulmate, the chance of him doing so is very little. So he dismisses the whole thing and goes back to his plan of becoming a successful lawyer. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It would be safe to say that now, being 44 years old, Rafael Barba has not only forgotten about the small probability of him ever meeting his soulmate. He has also stopped believing if he ever did, that once you found your soulmate you would live happily ever after. He knows for a fact that this is not the truth, so he just goes on with his life as it is. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That is until one day Rafael walks into the Special Victims Unit bullpen because Olivia has asked him to go and see about a case they’ve just got. The prosecutor hears a voice, one that speaks with an awful Staten Island accent, something that would normally annoy him, but that somehow only makes him feel warm and safe. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It seems like the new squad addition, detective Dominick “call me Sonny” Carisi Jr., is making Rafael feel weird things. Barba just ignores it and settles on talking about the case, but he can’t shake the warm feeling spreading through his body from his chest every time the young man speaks to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rafael is not going to try and deny himself that this Carisi guy is handsome, even with the horrendous mustache, he is clearly good-looking and charming it a way that Barba should find excessive, but apparently, he doesn’t. So he pretends he does. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> It seems to work well, until Barba realizes that Carisi, being the new guy, has been tasked with the arduous job of bringing the files and updates on the case to the DA’s office. He doesn’t seem to mind one bit and this just makes Rafael even more annoyed with the whole thing. Even more, since the man decided to shave that ugly thing from his face, because now Rafael can not ignore how handsome the guy actually is. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>One day, the eager young detective beats Rafael to his own office and he finds Carisi waiting for him, not even Carmen is there yet. The younger man is sitting on the bench outside, with a stack of manila folders on his lap, two cups of coffee beside him and a charming, and annoying, huge smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barba greets him, unlocks his office and signals for Carisi to come in, that’s when the young man tries to grab everything and fails to do so, he has got one hand full with the documents, a cup of coffee on the other, and the other paper cup rests still on the wooden bench. He smiles sheepishly at Rafael and the older man extends his hand to pick it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is this for me?” he asks because he has already had a cup, but he wouldn’t mind some more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. No” Rafael turns to the detective frowning and finds that smile again. “I mean, that one is mine, this one is yours. Black” he offers the cup and when Rafael reaches for it, it happens. The Spark. Everything goes white for a couple of seconds and then Rafael feels that warmth from before, but it is even more intense and it makes him feel lightheaded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I knew it!” Carisi says, his smile is even bigger than before. Rafael is still in some kind of shock and doesn’t say anything while the detective puts down the files and his coffee cup. Then he takes the one from Rafael’s hand and invades his space. “Can I… Can I hold you?” and Barba just nods because he is not sure about anything anymore. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The embrace is soft and it makes him feel at home, it feels just right to be in this man’s arms, so he wraps his arms around Carisi. They stay like this and for a moment Rafael’s mind starts worrying. What are they going to do with their jobs? What if this is just the initial surprise and then they start hating each other? What if Carisi was already in a relationship? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey. It’s okay, we’ll take one step at a time…” the younger man’s voice is soft and it makes Rafael feel safe. Carisi pulls away from the embrace and looks at him in the eye. “Rafael… Can I, call you Rafael?”, he nods. “Can I kiss you, Rafael?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, please” he answers because apparently, that’s everything he has wanted since he first heard the man’s voice. And the kiss is just as soft and reassuring as he needs it to be, and he knows that they may not live happily ever after, but they can try to make everything alright. Together. </span>
</p>
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